Tag: <span>disciple</span>

Have you ever thought about how messy it was as Jesus discipled His 12 guys? Consider the following few examples:

They argued about not bringing bread in the boat with them right after Jesus fed the 5,000!
They tried to keep the little children from coming to Jesus
James and John asked for a special favor to sit on Jesus’ right and left in His kingdom
The disciples rebuked the woman who anointed Jesus
James and John wanted to call fire down from heaven to destroy a Samaritan town
They all got mad at Jesus for sleeping in their boat during a storm
One of His disciples betrayed Him and the other 11 abandoned Him the night He was arrested
Some of His disciples still doubted after Jesus’ resurrection!

Wow! The point is this: if Jesus encountered these kinds of issues as He was discipling His guys, who are we to think that we won’t experience similar challenges with those we are discipling?

Why Discipleship Is Messy

Discipleship (making disciples) is messy because relationships are messy. And discipleship is purely relational.

As far as I can tell from Scripture, Jesus never got frustrated with His disciples. He may have grieved over their decisions and actions at times, but He didn’t dismiss them and send them on their way. However, some of His disciples (not the 12) stopped following Him when He taught using the metaphor of “drinking His blood” and “eating His flesh” in John 6.

Discipleship is messy and we should expect no less.

Why We Get Frustrated Discipling Others

Sometimes we get frustrated when we are in a discipling relationship with others. I know I have gotten frustrated.

I discipled a high school kid many years ago. The whole discipling process was two steps forward and one step back with him. There were times when I had to drive somewhere at midnight to rescue him from a sinful predicament he had gotten himself into. It wasn’t the midnight call that frustrated me so much as his lack of self-control and commitment to Christ.

Week after week I met with this young man and he rarely had done his “homework.” But then one day as I was listening to him talk about what God was doing in his life, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, “Let me do this my way. Don’t force this guy into your rigid mold.”

I eased up on this young man, stopped being frustrated with him, and watched him continue to grow in Christ. He serves as a pastor today! This is a credit to the Holy Spirit’s work in his life despite me!

As we seek to disciple others, whether it’s trying to lead someone to Christ or working with someone who already professes Christ, I think we get confused about what we are and aren’t responsible for.

We ARE responsible for:

Representing Christ well to others through our life and words
Assisting other followers of Christ in their growth in Him
Loving each other

We ARE NOT responsible for:

Someone’s conversion to Christ
An individual’s life choices
The evidence and pace of someone’s growth in Christ

We also need to constantly remind ourselves how needy we are before the Lord. How messy has our discipleship with Him been? How often have we failed Him, yet He keeps receiving us back, loving us, and encouraging us?

As we engage in the privilege of leading others to Christ and helping our fellow followers grow in Him, we are totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. We may “plant a seed.” Or, we may “water that seed,” but only God makes it grow (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Someone once described disciple-making as, “One beggar showing another beggar where to find food.” I like that description because it bears out our own desperate need for Christ and strips any hint of pride from the disciple-making process.

But all too often, we think of making disciples as a hierarchical activity. We might express this mindset in terms like, “I’d like to disciple you.” Or, “Would you disciple me?” To be fair, either of those phrases could be voiced humbly and sincerely. However, they may also reek of pride.

The word “disciple” simply means a learner. A disciple of Jesus is a learner of His. We don’t seek to become each other’s disciples. We want to make disciples of Jesus. When we make disciples, we show others what it means to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from Him. Any hierarchy is between us and Jesus, not between the “learners.”

In seeking to lead someone to Christ, Peter urges us, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV)

And in relating with other followers of Christ, Peter says, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’” (1 Peter 5:5 NIV)

Consider this, if we think of disciple-making as hierarchical, this implies that the disciple-maker attain certain qualifications. Without thinking about the implications of this, our minds might drift off to the need for training, education, certification, and credentials. But is that true?

Remember when Jesus healed the man who had a legion of demons in him? Immediately after Jesus healed him, he begged Jesus to let him go with Him. But Jesus said to him, “’Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.’ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:19-20 NIV)

To make disciples (as beggars showing other beggars where to find food) all you need initially is your story. What has Jesus Christ done for you? Now, tell others!

Of course we want to grow in Christ and get to know Him better. That involves spending time with Him in His Word, the Bible. But a certain level of Bible knowledge is not required to make disciples of others. Like He did with the man in Mark 5, Jesus tells us, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

What is God doing in your life right now? What has He done for you? Where has He shown you mercy? Share those experiences with others and watch God work!

The one credential we do need as disciple-makers is the indwelling Holy Spirit. But if you know Christ, then His Spirit already lives in you. He will prompt you. He will speak through you. Yield to Him and learn from Him. He will use you to bring others to Christ and help your fellow disciples grow in Him.

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